The San Francisco 49ers are currently hosting a training camp battle between Trey Lance and Sam Darnold for their second quarterback spot on the depth chart, with each player equally splitting the second-team reps while Brock Purdy takes all the first-team reps and Brandon Allen takes all the third-team reps.
The Lance and Darnold battle isn't anything new, as the duo split first-team reps during San Francisco's minicamp session in June, while the former mainly took the first-team reps in organized team activities(OTAs), while the latter acclimated himself to the offense.
For Lance, it has been a tumultuous ride during his career in San Francisco, as he went from being the starter last offseason to now competing for the backup role this year due to the emergence of Purdy.
The 23-year-old quarterback will have a chance to prove himself as training camp continues, but his journey this offseason wasn't expected to be like this.
Instead, coming off a fractured ankle that required surgery in Week 2 of the 2022 NFL season, Lance had a second surgery in late December to remove hardware that was inserted during the first procedure, something reportedly commonplace amongst similar injuries.
However, when speaking to reporters following a closed practice on Friday, Lance revealed that he himself believed that a setback would occur, sharing his relief that he's gotten a full offseason to improve after the surgeries.
"Yeah, absolutely, [I've got an appreciation for being able to run after the injury and rehab I've had]. I'd be lying if I said I thought I'd feel as good as I do. Going back to OTAs and especially now I thought I'd have at least a setback but thankfully, knock on wood, haven't had anything. So yeah, definitely very thankful for that," Lance said.
It's been a rough beginning to his NFL career for Trey Lance, who unfortunately has not gotten the opportunities you'd expect from a third overall pick due to injuries, but he's back on his feet and now looking to compete over the next two weeks in training camp.